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SUNDAY

BETHANY LUTHERAN - Molly Erdman 6, Anna Cepek 22, Caitlin Meyer 13, Casey Gudahl 5, Nicole Jones 8, Shelby Bahn 7, Tracy Harris 6. FG: 24-60; FT: 19-26; Rebounds: 47 (Cepek 13); Fouls: 23; Fouled out: Cepek, Erdman; 3-point FG: Cepek 1, Gudahl 1, Erdman 1)

FINLANDIA - Jodi Riutta 14, Sasha Beyers 5, Becky Kangas 5, Ally Tincknell 18, Jillian Dolkey 15, Janna Daavetilla 4. FG: 17-58; FT: 23-30; Rebounds: 40 (Tincknell 14); Fouls: 21; Fouled out: Tincknell; 3-point FG: Dolkey 3, Beyers 1.

Halftime score - Bethany 29, Finlandia 22.

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HANCOCK - Like a treadmill walker, the Finlandia University women's basketball team started slow ... and could never quite catch up ... in its game Sunday afternoon against Bethany Lutheran College.

The end result was a 70-61 defeat - the second loss in as many days in the rare twinbill. Bethany won Saturday's game by a 79-75 count.

"We started off ice-cold in our shooting and never really got going," FU coach Curtis Wittenberg said.

"We can't keep digging ourselves into a hole, we're not good enough right now to do that."

With a roster depleted by injuries and other problems, Finlandia had just seven players suited up.

Bethany coach Tiffany Klockziem was impressed by the effort of the Lions.

"Finlandia played with a lot of intensity, despite being down in numbers," Klockziem noted. "They have some talented players and I'm just happy to get out of the weekend with a couple of wins."

The Lions could manage just two points in the first 9:38 of the game, but still found themselves trailing by just 10.

"If there was a bright spot, it was that we played better defense than the day before," Wittenberg commented. "That kept us in the game."

Sparked by the play of Ally Tincknell and Jillian Dolkey, Finlandia did manage to get to within 19-18 later in the half. But the Vikings had a 29-22 lead at intermission behind the play of 6-foot sophomore center Anna Cepek.

Cepek was a thorn in the side of Lions all day, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

"Our strength is our inside game, we have a couple of players who can post down," Klockziem said. "That helped us in this game."

FU made a nice rally midway through the second half as Jodi Riutta (Houghton) and Sasha Beyers (Dollar Bay) had key contributions.

Riutta had two hoops and two free throws, while Beyers nailed a triple in a 9-3 run that made it 37-36 with 10 minutes to play.

The Minnesota team managed to fend off the Lions until a closing 15-1 outburst transformed a slim 49-47 lead into a 64-48 cushion.

Tincknell paced the locals with 18 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. She had 22 points and 15 boards the day before.

Dolkey netted 15 points, while Riutta chipped in 14 points and five steals.

The 3-7 winners were led by Cepek's big game. Caitlin Meyer had 13 points and Nicole Jones was good for 8 points and a team-leading 11 boards.

Finlandia, now 3-11 on the year, will travel to St. Scholastica on Jan. 12.